The Projectionist
by ThatGreenDooredBookshop
Summary: Left to die, the Alpha-series protectors were either driven insane or comatose with the loss of their charges. But to what depths would their 'daughters' sink if it were the reverse? Perhaps to the levels their fathers would reach. Perhaps... but who knows? To lose one's self in Rapture is an easy feat; and the apathy of that wretched city would let the proverbial dog lie. rewrite
1. L'appel du vide

**~oO0Oo~**

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 **OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: I do not over the Bioshock trilogy, probably for the best.**

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Rapture. A city that lay beneath the dark waves on the ocean floor, a home to countless. It's vast towers repelling the tonnes of pressure that lay on its skyline, a testament to its might. Built for the artisans of the world, unrestricted by petty laws or ethics; Rapture was the brainchild of Andrew Ryan's perceived genius to house, and hide, the craftsmen and women that flocked to his vision from around the globe. Through the bathysphere that was used to traverse down to the city's cavernous halls, one could see the beauty of the city. From Point Prometheus to Poseidon Plaza, Rapture seemed to hold an untold allure to those that looked upon it.

However, the utopian appearance hid an ugly secret that festered and corrupted. Away from high security areas reserved for the upper class, lay the dilapidated interiors that the builders of the city lived in. This darker side of Rapture bred Splicers, thieves and an assortment of unpleasant characters. Thankfully, not all of the working class of Rapture were like this, most of them being down to earth people. One family in particular, Matthias and Charlotte Delacroix, had just woken their daughter Jacqueline and were going about their daily routine.

"Lynn," Her mother called from the kitchen—which also served as their dining and sitting room. "Hurry up sweetie, if you don't get dressed quickly your breakfast will get cold!"

The five year old Jacqueline, hearing the possibility of her food spoiling, pulled up her socks and slipped on her shoes. She wore a navy blue dress that complimented her unkempt dark brown hair. Or at least, her mother said it did. Heedless, Lynn flung open the door and trotted up to the table before plonking herself down on her seat, a plate of her mother's delicious food. Though it was only a protein block with some vitamin supplements, Lynn liked the way in which her mother prepared it, making it look—and taste—like _sausages_.

Tucking into her breakfast, the small girl scarfed the meal down like she had been starved for weeks. Seeing her daughter's rather unsightly table manners, Charlotte stepped in.

"Lynn, stop eating like a pig. You'll choke on it if you force it down like that." She scolded lightly, frowning at the display of improper table manners.

Jacqueline blushed in embarrassment. "M'sorry maman," she apologised, wiping her face with her sleeve—an action that she had not, much to her parents' chargin, grown out of. "It's just _so_ good!"

Rolling her eyes, Charlotte turned back to the stove where she was cooking her spouse's breakfast. "When is Papa coming back?" Jacqueline asked blithely, looking up from the table.

"He'll be back soon," Her mother assured, smoothing her hand over her hair. "You've just got to be patient Lolotte."

Finishing up with her husband, Matthias' meal, Charlotte was soon proven right as the door to their flat clicked with the sound of a key turning in its lock. The door opening, Lynn rushed up to the exhausted frame of her father and embraced the tired man. Unprepared for the sudden collision, Matthias keeled over backwards with a loud thud.

"Papa!" Lynn exclaimed happily, ecstatic that her father had returned. "How was work?"

"It was fine sweetie." He smiled, patting the mildly hyperactive girl on the head. "Sleep well?"

"Yep." She chirped. "Oh, and Maman made you some breakfast."

"That sounds delicious." Matthias uttered happily, pushing himself, as well as his still clutching offspring, up off the floor. Making his way over to his wife, he wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Hungry?" Charlotte asked, nuzzling her spouse.

"Am I ever—." He began, but before he could finish his sentence, someone started pounding on the front door. "Quickly, hide Jacqueline. I'll get the revolver." Ordered the now deadly serious Matthias.

It hadn't been the first time this had happened, and in all honestly, it was becoming more and more common. No matter how many Splicers were killed off, it seemed two or three rose up to take the fallen one's place. Their addled brains motivating them to go to any lengths to satisfy their addiction.

Whilst her father loaded his firearm and steeled himself for the fight, should the ADAM craving junkies break through the door, Jacqueline's mother carried her frightened daughter over to a closet and laid her inside. "Keep quiet and stay calm, I'll come and get you when this is over." She assured the fearful girl. "Don't worry, we'll take care of this." Closing the doors, all the terrified Jacqueline was left with was a small crack to peer through to see what was happening. Her father, standing ready before the doorway, had the revolver drawn and at the ready. Even her normally docile mother had armed herself with a kitchen knife.

The doorframe started to splinter as the unrelenting barrage started to take its toll on the entrance. Evidently, her father had gotten sight of the body behind the door, as he was now aiming his weapon at the door, waiting for his assailant to present himself. Thankfully, his patience was rewarded and the door threw itself open, revealing a man. His face seemed to be horribly warped and the pallid grey colour of his skin only contributed to his monstrous appearance.

 _'How was that a person?'_ Jacqueline thought in utter horror.

The man was apparently not prepared to face any resistance and had probably thought he could walk in and take whatever he pleased. His shocked expression only reaffirmed this before any expression was swiftly wiped off his face as a bullet passed through his brain, the pistol giving a sharp report that left Lynn's ears ringing.

Clutching her ears in pain, she didn't see the man slump to the floor as his consciousness left him before he hit the hardwood surface. Slowly advancing forward to check the hallway, Matthias approached the doorway to affirm that the coast was indeed clear and the danger had passed. Whipping out to the right, he saw one other Splicer and prepared to fire, only for a bolt of blue electricity to strike him in the back. Falling toe the floor paralysed, he realised that there must've been one behind him. Not that this mattered any more as the Splicer that had stood before him leapt forward and started bludgeoning him with a wrench. "Wan'ed t' shoot me, eh?" The raving man yelled at the body as he beat the corpse senseless, crushing Jacqueline's now dead father's skull. "How d'ya like _that_?! An' _that_!"

Jacqueline sat there, utterly shocked. Her Papa... why wasn't he getting up and beating that mean man up? The devastated girl became aware that her mother had charged forward, screaming like a banshee, still wielding her kitchen knife and lunged forward to gut the crazy man like a pig. She wouldn't make it though, as after another sharp " **crack** ", a bullet lanced through her rib cage and she fell to the floor, blood quickly pooling around her, bringing Lynn to physically flinch upon seeing her mother's body drop to the floor like a sack of beetroots.

"Maman?" Jacqueline called softly, her voice tinny and her hands shaking. "Maman, get up. Please." Slowly, the traumatised girl broke down into pitiable sobs.

"Ugh, you're not supposed t' shoot the broad! What're we gonna do with her now?!" The thuggish male griped irritably as he and his female partner entered the family's flat.

"Quit your complainin'." The woman bellowed in a surprisingly gravelly voice. "We aren't here for these two remember? That Little Sister's orphanage was offerin' money to take snot-nosed brats, yeah?"

"Right..." The thuggish Splicer muttered dumbly, walking out of the line of sight that Jacqueline had through the peephole. "Don' have to be so _rude_ about it. Now where is the lil' tyke?"

Suddenly, the large closet doors opened and revealed that the man had snuck up when he'd been out of Jacqueline's field of view. "There ya are." Grinned the monstrosity. Now that the man was up close, the terrified girl could see the creature for all its hideous glory. Scales drooped down over the left side of his face and his skin looked loose, giving it the appearance of a horrific mask. His grin revealing a mouth full of crooked off-white teeth that reeked of decay and his fingers gnarled and grabbing; an utterly horrifying visage to the five year old girl, scaring the already terrified girl into a proverbial corner. Acting on pure instinct, Jacqueline bit down hard on the offending appendages eliciting a yelp of pain from the thing. Scrambling out from her compromised hidey-hole, Lynn made a mad rush for the door. The man, who had other plans, grabbed the girl's unruly hair and pulled her back, kicking and screaming.

" _Goddammit_! The little bitch bit me!" He yelled furiously.

"Shut her up so we can get 'er over to the orphanage, ya stupid." His female associate uttered apathetically.

"Oh I will." He uttered, a manic grin stretching his lips unnaturally, his fingertips crackling violently with the same blue electricity that had incapacitated her father. Slamming his electrically charged fist into her stomach, Lynn couldn't even wince in pain as the electricity rushed over her, darkness following soon after.

Hefting the unconscious child into his arms, none too gently, the Splicer got up and ambled clumsily toward the doorway. "Ya gonna help me or are ya gunna stand there, skank?"

"I ain't no skank!" The woman objected angrily, fire crawling up her arm. "Let's just dump the shit-bag at the orphanage and pick up the money."

"Right."

* * *

 **~oOo~**

As she finally regained consciousness, Jacqueline remembered the events that had transpired god only knows how long ago. Her movements directed by panic, she began struggling to get out of the arms that were carrying her, frantically flailing about. "Let go of me! Let go!" She cried to her captive, kicking the man in the jaw.

"Argh, fuck!" The man exclaimed in pain, dropping his load like a hot stone. Scrambling upwards, the woman grabbed Jacqueline by the arm before she could make her escape.

"Hey, cool it kid." The woman with the gravelly voice intoned boredly. "You're lucky we need you or ya woulda ended up dead like your damned parents, so don't give us an excuse." This got her to stop as she recalled that her parents had been killed by these two monsters. Looking up at her two captives, she saw that the two were now dressed in cleaner clothes and wore masks, the woman a rabbit and the man an elephant in a slightly successful disguise of their true appearance. Getting her bearings, being led by the thug, Lynn saw that they were approaching a nondescript building with a neon sign reading "Little Sister's orphanage".

"This is gonna be your home from now on girly." The man rasped unpleasantly as the trio entered the building and went over the the receptist's desk that sat in the centre of the lobby.

The lady at the desk, a black haired woman with icy blue eyes smiled pleasantly up at them and welcomed them. "Hello and welcome to the little sister's orphanage; how may I help you?" Her expression flickering as she eyed Jacqueline who was being held by back of her neck, courtesy of the man.

Clearing her throat, the female Splicer put on a sickly sweet feminine tone. "Yeah, we called you earlier about droppin' our little darlin' here today. We simply can't take care o' her any more." False despair and lies dropping out of her mouth like the teeth that had once occupied it.

Masking her revulsion, the receptionist quickly responded. "We'd be happy to take care of her for you Mrs...?"

"Oh, Delacrux." She responded, quoting the identity card they'd lifted, butchering the pronunciation of the formerly alive Charlotte's surname. Before presenting the hastily forged card to the receptionist. Lynn's instantaneous response was to object to the obvious theft of her parents' identities, but she felt the man's large, ham-like fist squeeze her neck. Whimpering, she stepped down and kept quite.

"Well, if you're sure about your decision—."

"We are." Interrupted the man, right before the woman elbowed him in the stomach.

"Then we'll take her off your hands." The lady continued monotonously, ignoring the interruption. "Here, just sign here please ma'am." She finished, presenting the pair with a form and pen; indicating where they should sign, simultaneously shooting Lynn a look of pity. Eagerly grabbing the pen, the woman signed off without giving the terms and conditions a second glance.

"I'll have your payment in a moment." the lady assured the duo. "Alexander? You're needed at the reception right away." She spoke into the microphone that transmitted to god knows where. Nodding vigorously, the two Splicers were stopped from asking exactly "how long" by a large, burly man walking up to the front desk. He was about six foot two and square, shaved head that held a pair of beady black eyes. "Alex, could you please... *ahem*, take this young girl to meet doctor Grissom for her _check up_?"

Jacqueline narrowed her eyes. Something about the way that the lady had phrased that seemed very suspicious... the wall of muscle nodded and took Lynn by the hand and dragged her off beyond the lobby and through a pair of double doors. Unable to make out what the three they'd left behind were discussing, Jacqueline felt a wave of unease, wash over her. There was just something that rubbed her the wrong way about this place. Reaching a final set of doors, Alexander pushed them open revealing a stark white room with a table sitting in the centre and what felt like floodlights hanging from the ceiling. Immediately, the stench of disinfectant rushed into her nostrils and she realised why she'd felt uneasy. She hated hospitals. Every time her mother... her mother had taken her for a 'look over' as she'd call it, she would do everything in her power to avoid it. Only confirming what she already knew, a man wearing operating scrubs stepped forward.

Was she going to die here? What were they going to do to her? The confusion of the day's events cause the five-year-old to whimper and cry out in fear.

"Hello there little one." Chuckling in amusement as she shied away. "Don't like doctors? I do believe my feelings are hurt, but don't worry." Punctuating his sentence by jabbing her left arm with a needle and injecting a fluid into her. "It will all be over soon." Feeling the cold solution spread through her bloodstream, Lynn felt her body become—at least to her—like lead, slowly numbing before she lost consciousness.

Catching her before she fell, Alexander gently placed her on the operating table for the doctor.

"Thank you Jonathan." The doctor uttered blandly as he grabbed a sea slug from the nearby aquarium. "That'll be all."

"It's _Alexander_." The man growled as he slowly edged out of the operating room, closing the door behind him.

"Yes yes, semantics." The doctor waved dismissively. _'All brawn and no brain that one.'_ He thought to himself as he readied his scalpel.

* * *

 **~OoO~**

Jacqueline was asleep. Well, on the fringes of consciousness at the very least. To top this all off, she was lying in a comfortable bed. She wished that she could stay like this, but her body was already in the process of waking up. Clutching the quilt to her small body, Lynn opened her eyes slowly and cast them around the room. Walls and ceiling alike were illustrated with pretty caricatures of autumn; watercolours of beautiful red-orange leaves and small animals to name a few examples. The cherry wood floors gleamed in the yellow, almost sun-like light and a large Persian rug covered a significant part of the floor with its magnificent pattern.

In awe of the sheer detail in the artwork, Jacqueline smiled in unabated appreciation of the paintings. " _Pretty_." She thought aloud, her voice giving an echo-y sort of noise. Rousing her from her musings, the door opened and revealed the image of a gentleman. Dressed in a silken black suit and trousers, his charcoal leather shoes were polished to the point that she could see her reflection in them and his baby blue tie complimented his gleaming white shirt that seemed to reflect the room's light. "Hello, I see you've woken up." He said politely, putting up a pleasant smile. "I'm doctor Grissom, would you do me the pleasure of telling me your name?" Surely it couldn't hurt to tell the polite man her name?

" _It's Jacqueline_ ," She responded in kind. " _But most people call me Lynn_... _I think_."

"What a pretty name," He said unabatedly, earning a smile from Lynn from the simple but thoughtful compliment. "It's a pleasure Jacqueline."

" _Thank you Mister Grissom_."

"It's Doctor Grissom actually." He corrected good-naturedly.

" _Sorry_." Jacqueline apologised.

"It doesn't matter Jacqueline." He affirmed with another pleasant smile. "I actually came to ask you if you would accept a couple visitors." At this, Jacqueline noticed for the first time that something, or rather someone, was hiding behind the gentleman's stature. Craning her neck, Lynn tried to get a better view of exactly what was hiding behind the good doctor. Noticing her curiosity, the doctor looked behind him and attempted to coax out whatever had hidden itself. "It's alright, come out and say hello to Jacqueline." Peering out from behind the man, two bodies slowly revealed themselves. Both wearing plain white dresses, identical to the one that she was wearing and both having their fiery auburn hair pulled into a ponytails. But to Lynn, by far, their most appealing characteristic were their beautiful yellow eyes which held a fantastic glow to them and that seemed to hold a spark of mischief. 'I wonder if my eyes are like that.' She thought, excited at the possibility.

"Jacqueline, these are your elder sisters; Juline and Suki." Presented Grissom with a flourish.

Lynn blinked in shock, taking a moment to process what the kind gentleman had just told her. _'Sisters?'_ Gathering her thoughts, she rationalised that the man had no reason to lie to her and had been nothing short of a gentleman to her so far. Of course, those weren't her exact thoughts, but nevertheless, she threw off her duvet and rushed up to elder siblings, embracing the both of them.

Breaking away from the hug after a moment, Lynn's two elder sibling gave her the up and down. " _Wanna come'n play with us_?" Suki, the one on the right, piped up hopefully with the same two-toned voice that she had.

Jacqueline, smiling unabashed, touched that they wanted to play with her, was immediate in her answer. " _I'd love to_!" She exclaimed happily.

Juline, grabbing Lynn and Suki's hands grinned. " _We're going to have so much fun together_." She said, squealing delight, bouncing on her toes.

"As much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news," Grissom interrupted patiently, getting hold of the trio's attention again. "I'm afraid before there is any playing, you three will have to attend lessons."

" _Lessons_?" Jacqueline asked, disappointed that they couldn't play, but curious as to what 'lessons' were.

" _Oh_! _It's where you learn t'be a good girl an' they teach you manners and reading_!" Exclaimed Suki happily. Clearly she enjoyed these 'lessons', so they couldn't be too bad, even if they interrupted playtime.

"Exactly right Suki." Grissom praised the small girl, patting her on the head. "Do you want to be a good girl and learn how to read Jacqueline?"

" _Yes_!" Blurted the little girl. After all, who didn't want to be a good girl?

"Then follow me, Jacqueline— or your siblings." Realising that the twins had rushed past him in their excitement. "I'm sure you'll find it invigorating."

Not wanting to get lost, Jacqueline stayed by the doctor's side as he led the way down through the pretty hallways, into and through different rooms before finally reaching their destination. Opening a large pair of exquisitely crafted mahogany doors, the Doctor revealed a room filled with small desks, most of which were already occupied by more of her golden-eyed sisters, and motioned for her to take her place.

Rushing forward, she took the available seat next to Suki, eager to learn as much as she could and be the best girl that she could possibly be.

* * *

 **— 0 —**

* * *

"Ahem," He coughed, clearing his throat. "Doctor Grissom's personal audio diary number twenty-three. It's been twenty-one days since Jacqueline Delacroix's conversion into a Gatherer and so far, her learning ability and progress within the school curriculum has been prodigious. Within fifteen days she mastered reading basic sentences with relative ease and is able to read the little sister instruction signs. She's also devised an efficient way of collecting ADAM from her 'angels': by penetrating underneath the rib cage and up into the subject's heart with her harvester needle, she manages to collect one point two eight percent more ADAM than the basic and rather crude technique that the majority of the Gatherers use."

Pausing to cough painfully, the Doctor continued his explanation swiftly. "She has also displayed a high capacity to learn and holds an aptitude for solving puzzles, something that may save her life in the future. Once placed in an ADAM collection simulation, she also displays caution when approaching the 'angel', perhaps she realises the potential danger of being ambushed, perhaps she doesn't. Nevertheless, I hold high hopes for Jacqueline surviving for longer than some of her other more wayward colleagues. I am confident that she is capable in handling pair-bonding better than some of the previous candidates and have already assigned her a date for the operation bonding her with, subject Kappa if memory serves."

* * *

 **— 0 —**

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"Jacqueline!" Came the familiar voice of doctor Grissom echoing through the corridors.

Dropping her crayons and getting up from her desk where she had been drawing some lovely flowers, Jacqueline quickly hurried in the direction that the doctor's voice had come from.

True to her senses, she soon found the doctor standing beside a more unfamiliar gentleman. "Ah, there you are." The doctor smiled down at her cheerfully. "I'd like for you to meet someone Jacqueline."

Ever the shy one, Lynn hide behind Grissom's trouser legs and peered round the side to look at the man. "This is your uncle Alexander, who is also a doctor."

" _Uncle_?" She asked, almost unsurely.

"Indeed, but call me Gilbert." The more wrinkly well-dressed man clarified cheerily, winking at the shy girl. "In fact, I'm here to take you to meet someone special. Isn't that exciting?"

" _Who_?" Jacqueline asked cautiously, still hiding behind Grissom's trousers.

"That would spoil the surprise my dear." Grissom said, politely giving his input. "But you'll be sure to enjoy it."

" _M'kay_." She chirped, finally starting to warm up to her uncle. If the doctor was comfortable around him, why shouldn't she be? Offering his hand, Jacqueline took her uncle's offered appendage and happily skipped alongside him as he led her away. Looking back, she waved happily back at Grissom who returned it with a little wave of his own.

" _So where are we going_?" The inquisitive girls asked brightly, smiling up at her uncle.

"You'll see soon enough my dear."

Leading her down through the hallways, the beautiful caricatures of scenes of autumn, winter, spring and summer following them, Gilbert brought his 'niece' to a pair of iron-wrought doors. Jacqueline gasped at the beauty of the gateway and the skill of the craftsman to create such a work. Moulded with small, detailed figures of fish, whales, which had tiny rubys as eyes, and a whole assortment of sea life, Lynn got the impression that an aquarium was attached to the door.

Kneeling down to his charge's height, Alexander cleared his throat, grabbing the child's attention. "Now Jacqueline my dear," He started, putting his hand on her shoulder. "You may see some rather distressing things in a moment. I want to tell you that it will be alright, you'll soon meet the special person and he will take care of you. When he is by your side, you will have nothing to be afraid of. Do you understand me?"

Now, for a five year old, some of the words that her uncle had used were... complicated. Grown-up words. But she managed to get the gist of what her uncle was saying, nodding in affirmation. _'So nice of uncle Gilbert to be so thoughtful.'_

Smiling, in what seemed like relief, Alexander ruffled her hair affectionately and got up. "Excellent. Now, follow me." He said, pushing open the intricate doors with a heave. Revealing a large room, at least in comparison to Jacqueline, she saw a large recliner chair decorated with fine red leather and the wood polished to a shine. The floors were a chequered black and white marble pattern the gleamed with her reflection and the walls a smooth off-white cream with pretty patterns embellished into it. Not too far away from the nice chair, she saw a large cross-esque metal table, wrought in a similar manner that the door had been, only there were four large silver dolphins holding the table off the floor.

" _Is this a sort of tea party_?" She asked exuberantly, spinning round to face her uncle happily.

"Ah, you figured it out!" He exclaimed, feigning cheerful encouragement. "Just take your seat over there little one."

" _Yay_!" Jacqueline cheered victoriously, dashing off to the seat, climbing up and plonking herself in the middle comfortably. Ambling over to her side, Gilford apologised as he gently pushed her head to the side. Curious, she made to ask why he'd done that only for something sting her in the neck! " _Ouch_!" She cried out in pain, quickly grabbing her neck to feel where she'd been stung. But a sudden drowsiness can over her and she felt her arm become eerily, familiarly heavy. Blackness slowly clouding her vision, she saw Gilbert step into her slowly shrinking field of vision and say, "Stay calm may dear, it will all be over soon."

* * *

 **~ooo~**

There was nothing. Everywhere she looked, there was the same vast expanse of eternal darkness that was so thick, she thought that she could reach out and touch it. And to be honest, it scared her. The sheer malevolence of the blackness was almost palpable to her.

Taking a deep breath, Jacqueline tried to step forward and explore her surroundings. Only, there was no ground, no surfaces of any kind, only the Dark. Suddenly, she heard a whisper the cut through the silence like a knife from behind her. However, as she was unable to move, Jacqueline was only able to panic, unable to run from or look at the one that had broken the silence. Much to her horror, long, clammy and bony fingers reached out from the darkness and wrapped themselves around her. Shivering in revulsion, Lynn fearfully screamed for help, for someone, anyone to put a stop to this nightmare.

Was this what her uncle had meant? She didn't want to disappoint him, but she was terrified. What was she to do? How would she get away? Despair clutched her as the revolting fingers squeezed themselves tighter around her waist, constraining her movement and restraining her breath. Slowly, the hideous, moist hands turned her around to face their progenitor and Jacqueline was met with a sight that filled her with the blackest despair. The creature before her would not be I'll placed in the ranks of the Eldritch gods with it's sheer hideousness. Its rounded face was loose and flabby, covered in scales with a long snout-like protrusion, not dissimilar to that of an anteater, only its mouth at the end was bloodied and filled with innumerable razor-like teeth. This eye, evil black things, seemed to glow with hatred as they stared into Jacqueline's golden eyes as if they were spited by her very existence.

But that wasn't the worst of it, in the dark, leaking room that had seemingly materialised with the vile creature were the broken, limp bodies of her sisters. Unceremoniously piled on top of each other, each one shrivelled and bloodied, not uncommonly missing various body parts. Jacqueline, filled with the deepest sense of complete and utter helplessness, could not even conjure the energy to scream.

"Her sisters were dead", was the only thing going through her mind, unable to completely fathom the sheer gravitas of what that meant. No. Surely there must be some other explanation. There was no way that they could be dead. Her body however, was under no such delusions and was weeping openly, Lynn's mind unaware from the sheer shock it had been thrust upon.

Making a ugly slurping noise that trade the very skin crawl, the abomination slowly raised the catatonic girl up to its voracious maw.

Suddenly, a lance of pure white light shot out from the darkness that the creature had plucked the hapless Lynn from. Touching upon every surface, the dingy room was transformed into a beautiful, yet empty, room. The formerly dripping ceiling unblemished and the cracked tile floor now a beautifully smooth marble. Dropping Lynn, the abhorrent thing crawled pitifully backward to hide from the wondrous light, only to find the pile of broken bodies to have been banished by the almost divine light.

Roused from her shock by the thing, Jacqueline looked on in awe as a literal knight in shining armour stepped out from the darkness to reveal himself. Clutching a lance of silver, wearing a golden helmet and garbed in bronze chain mail, the knight made a truly glorious sight for Jacqueline, who's previous sentiments had been chased away like the corpses of her sisters.

The vomit inducing creature, realising that it was cornered, desperately leapt forward to take the knight by surprise. Not missing a beat, the knight jammed the lance into the stomach of the still airborne beast, the silver weapon glowing and burning away any blood or gore that tried to blemish the immaculate floors. Shrieking in pain, the abomination soon found itself thrown to the floor, lance still embedded in its stomach. The knight, reaching out and grabbing the cursed existence's head and swiftly tore it off with his free left hand.

Tossing the headless body away, the knight stood and strode over to the still downed Jacqueline and knelt before her, extending his left hand to gently pull her from the ground. Hesitantly at first, Jacqueline put her fears aside in an instant and took the kind knight's hand. Gripping her tiny wrist with surprising delicacy, the room began glowing the brightest white, slowly obscuring any details. It didn't matter to Jacqueline though, for as long as she was with the knight she knew she would always be safe.

Feeling a warmth spread throughout her body, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that man was...

" _Daddy_."

* * *

 **~OOO~**

 **A/N: Hoo, I've had this idea in my head for the past year and haven't been able to exteriorise it for that same amount of time. I hope you liked reading this as much as I did writing it. IF you have any questions, please bring them to me. Reviews are welcome, but please keep it to constructive criticism. I really don't like flames—then again, who does?**

 **Hope ya'll have a wonderful day; TGDB.**


	2. Goya

**OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: I do not own Bioshock. (Insert witty comment about me wishing I wasn't so damned poor)**

* * *

 **REVIEW(S):**

 **akiranakamuranura —** I'm glad you like it (forgive the English, I do not speak Portuguese), I've had this story in the works for quite some time and haven't been able to put "pen to paper" so to speak. And don't worry, the Alpha series way rendered obsolete way before the events of Bioshock 2–in fact, the in-game date is only February of 1957–so don't stress. Whether she'll die... well, you'll just have to wait and see.

* * *

 **~OoO~**

She was awake.

Opening her eyes slowly, Jacqueline didn't feel the usual grogginess that she felt when woke. She felt strangely rejuvenated. Like she could run a mile or carry something really heavy. Looking around, she saw that her uncle was pouring over something on the cross-table. Trying to make her way over to him, Jacqueline found that her wrists and ankles were bound with little bracelets that were attached to the chair itself. Funny, she hadn't noticed that before.

Gilbert, hearing the clutter of Lynn trying to get up off the table, looked over to his 'niece'. "You've finally come around." He exclaimed. "Here," Stepping over to her side and releasing the restraints that held her down. "This is your Daddy."

As if the table had a sense of the dramatic, the horizontal surface raised itself into a vertical position thus giving Jacqueline a clear view of what lay on it.

Gasping in shock, her eyes widening in amazement, she recognised the figure immediately. It was the knight from her dreams! He was her Daddy? Casting aside any vestiges of shock, an enormous smile spread across her face and she literally jumped for joy.

"Call to him." Gilbert said, interrupting Lynn's little moment. "He's asleep right now so you need to wake him." He clarified for the slightly confused Jacqueline.

Nodding, she stepped in front of her Daddy. " _Daddy_?" She asked, slightly unsure of herself. " _Daddy_?" Still no response.

Starting to get nervous at the lack of response, Jacqueline called again. " _Papa, wake up_!"

The knight's reaction was slow, almost groggy. His arms shifting, the helmet that his her Daddy's face turned to face her. " _Good morning Papa_!" She happily exclaimed, rushing forward and embracing his leg—which was so large, she could barely get her arms around it!

Shifting slightly, the Big Daddy gently pushed her back and knelt before Lynn, opening his arms to embrace her. Not needing a second invitation, Jacqueline rushed forward and leapt into the giant's arms.

Suddenly, a crackle of speakers echoed through the room before promptly cutting out. "Jacqueline my dear," Uncle Gilbert's voice resounded from the hidden speaker, who'd seemingly left whilst they'd had their moment. "There is a needle sitting on a table to your right. Could you please collect it and proceed through the set of wooden doors." It was phrased as a question, but it sounded like an order. Jacqueline didn't care though. She was with her Daddy and she was about to retrieve her toy.

Wriggling out of the armoured form of her Papa, she trotted over to the plain metal table on wheels that sat not too far away from the two. Standing on her toes, she peered over the edge and grabbed the large pointed instrument with a baby bottle on the end. She'd always thought they looked funny, but had overlooked that because it got the delicious ADAM from angels.

Syringe in hand, Jacqueline turned to her father and smiled. " _Come on Papa, let's go an' look for some angels_." Padding over to the armoured man, Jacqueline eagerly took his left hand and exited the room through the two mahogany doors. The room the two stepped into was pain. There was nothing really notable about it; no furniture, windows or patterns. Just a simple white light that was reflected by the equally white walls. On the other end of the room, there was an armoured steel door with a small glass slate that came just under her Papa's height. In fact, the only outstanding thing within the otherwise boring room was the angel in the centre that sat in a pool of rose petal, a ring of purple emperor butterflies circling her in a ring.

Eagerly rushing forward, Jacqueline dropped to her knees beside the angel. Rose petals sticking to her knees, she brandished the extractor needle and carefully stuck it under the angel's rib cage and up into her now still heart. Quickly, the blood red ADAM filled the bottle at the end, coming to a trickling stop at half capacity. Earnestly, Jacqueline pulled out the needle from the angel and drank from the bottle, slurping up the delicious fluid. " _Mmmm_." She sighed in delight as she swallowed the ichor before looking up to her Papa hopefully. " _Can we go'n look for more angels Daddy_?"

A clunk suddenly resonated through the room and the cast iron door opened, two women and a man rushing out. Were it not for the manner in which they ran and the words they said, Lynn would've thought that they were nice people. Dressed for high society, the rabid trio yelled out curses and threats. "Give me the ADAM!" A woman wearing a black rabbit mask and an ostentatious green dress lined with charcoal feathers shrieked at the pair in what seemed like fury.

But what had she done wrong? Lynn didn't even know these people, so why would they be angry with her? As if he sensed his daughter's emotional distress, her Papa's lance began to spin with a loud revving and he leapt forward, smashing the man into the floor with the flat of the lance with a splat. Lunging forward, he grabbed the other nearby lady with his free left hand and crushed her head, dropping her limp body to join her comrade.

" _Daddy, help_!" Whilst the Alpha series was occupied with the two Splicers before him, the third had snuck around at her compatriots' expense and had reached her prize, holding Jacqueline up by her wrists, a vicious grin invisible beneath her mask. " _Help me Daddy, please_!" Jacqueline cried haplessly.

Letting out a roar almost like a tiger, Kappa pounced on the Splicer, knocking her aside. How dare she try to harm his daughter! Utterly furious, he threw himself forward like a giant copper bullet at the revolting creature that had laid it's filthy hands on his daughter to harm her. Before she could widen her eyes, Jacqueline's Daddy's lance was buried in the lady's stomach. Smashing her body to the floor, her Papa revved his drill and sent hundreds of blood red rose petals everywhere before he stopped the noisy lance and stood again, turning and motioning for Lynn to come closer.

The danger gone, Lynn happily obliged—she knew he'd protect her—and planted herself next to him. Taking her tiny hand in his, he strode to the iron door at the end, the only exit, and peered inside.

No Splicers.

In fact, the room was more like a cell, being only a four by four metre square of concrete.

Again, there was a crackle of speakers and Gilbert's voice came over the speakers. "Excellent work you two!" He praised. "I think you're ready to be let onto the streets."

Jacqueline felt proud that her uncle Gilbert thought they were ready. She'd never been outside the safety of the orphanage either, so it was going to be an adventure for sure!

" _Merci, Tonton_!" She exclaimed, skippy with glee. She was unsure at what she'd even said, but it felt as if it suited the situation. It felt right. Besides, uncle Alexander—or 'Tonton' as she'd called him—didn't seem to mind as he made no response.

Dancing over to her Papa, that stood where he had vanquished the nasty lady, and grabbed his hand and lance, playing an awkward game of ring around the rosie. Oh boy was she excited to go out into the streets!

* * *

 **— 0 —**

* * *

"Something strange happened today." Spoke doctor Alexander into a microphone. "Grissom asked me to perform a pair bonding operation upon one of the 'little sisters' that he has so affectionately nicknamed. This, on its own, is standard, he asks this of me all the time and whilst the girl in question was quite well-mannered in comparison to some of her other colleagues, there isn't anything very strange about that. No, after they'd survived the proving grounds and I'd told them that they would be released into the street to collect ADAM as standard procedure, young Jacqueline thanked me in French, calling me " _Tonton_ "!"

He wiped his brow before continuing his monologue. "They don't teach French in the school curriculum and all Gatherers' experiential memories are effectively wiped after the implantation procedure, so one of two things may be occurring: one, her mental conditioning is breaking down. This however is unlikely though, as Grissom has told me that she has been the picture of good behaviour and the symptoms that are coupled with this are usually... _ostentatious_. The second possibility is that some memories survived the initial wipe and are now interfering prospectively. Performing another memory wipe would be impractical and detrimental to her performance and from what Grissom's given me, her learning curve is much higher than her other 'sisters'. Perhaps Jacqueline's prodigious intellect amongst her associates is credited to these possible remaining memories? No matter, I should notify Grissom of this..."

* * *

 **— 0 —**

* * *

Carlson Fiddle's dream was to create a place of joy for children. A place where they could have fun and enjoy themselves, forgetting Rapture's lawlessness and the paradoxical regime of Ryan for a while. The aforementioned gentleman Ryan, had other ideas though. Calling the man's dream infantile and immature, the dictator tore apart the Carlson's dream and built in its place a factory dedicated to the production of slanderous propaganda to all that were outside his philosophy; a temple to himself.

Since it's creation, the park had unsurprisingly been a smash-hit failure, garnering visitors that came more out of reluctance or the lack of options rather than of actual enjoyment. It was in this place of crushed dreams, that Kappa and Jacqueline found themselves. The young girl was blissfully unaware of the rather tragic backstory of the place and had literally followed her nose to this location, the pungent smell of angels drawing her close.

Leading her father in shining armour by the hand, the pair trundled along as they travelled through the amusement centre. The smartly dressed adults, and sometimes children if she was lucky, leaping almost comically out of the way in haste. All in all, Lynn found their reactions to be pretty funny, occasionally even giggling out loud. One example being a rotund balding man that had, having his back turned, leapt into the air in fright as her Papa pushed him to the side. That one was pretty funny. Or the woman that'd pulled her son out of the way before she started yapping like a frightened bird!

Nonetheless, she wasn't here to play tricks on other people, Jacqueline was here to look for angels! In fact, her quarry was much closer than she'd anticipated. " _This way Daddy_ ," She said eagerly as she pulled the large Alpha series behind her. " _The angel's this way_!"

Rounding the corner, they found their continued movement barred by an "authorised personnel only" sign. Jacqueline however, heedless of the words, opened the door and pulled her Papa after her. All around them, silver pipes wound around the walls like frozen snakes and grills made shining gold, vapour rising up through these like fog. The sleek marble surfaces collecting little dew drops from the vents.

Jumping up and down in excitement, Lynn bounced forward, jumping through the pillars of mist both in delight and searching for the ever elusive angel in a game of hide-and-seek. Eventually though, the diligent girl found the object of her desire; a male with his arms crossed across his chest, lying in a pool of rose petals and the ever iconic white wings that spread out from under his back.

Stabbing her harvester needle into the angel's heart, and sucking the succulent red fluid into the bottle at the end. Pulling the long utensil from the angel's chest, Lynn gulped down the ADAM, sating her hunger for the time being. "Daddy, c'mon let's go!" She said in her usual cheerful tone, bobbing away through the door that they'd entered the room through, her Big Daddy following close behind.

Heading back down the way they'd come, Jacqueline was humming a made-up tune to herself as she skipped along and was unprepared when a baseball struck her on the head and sent her sprawling. Her Papa's reaction was immediate and began furiously scanning the area for the assailant, his drill revving menacingly. No damage being done, Jacqueline rubbed her head in mild discomfort. " _Ow_..." She winced to herself in pain, her accelerated healing factor vanishing the physical trauma almost instantly, the phantom pain lingering on, though she smiled and put up her usually happy front. " _All better now Daddy_."

Someone had dared hurt his child right in front of him! His daughter may have said that she was fine, but such transgressions would never go unpunished! Catching sight of a pair of suspicious young boys, Kappa made to stride over to the two and—.

" _Come on Daddy_ ," Jacqueline said, breaking his train of thought. " _Let's go'n play_!"

Looking down at his charge, Kappa saw his child happy and holding the baseball up in a jubilant gesture. The anger evaporating like the steam from the previous room, her Papa felt a warmth spread through him. Allowing the happy Lynn to grab his hand, baseball in the other, and lead him away, he promptly forgot about the two lads who were likely sorely missing their ball now.

Proceeding down one of the many tunnels that took them away from Ryan Amusements, Jacqueline and her Papa went along their merry way down toward who knows where. Humming the same eerie tune to herself, she tossed her new toy into the air, catching it as it came plummeting back down to earth. This continued for some time before the girl gave a tired yawn. " _It's dream-time Papa_!" She said, though not with her usual chirpiness, the day having taken it's toll on the young Lynn.

Gently picking up his daughter, Kappa chivalrously carried the sleepy girl to the nearest Little Sister vent, a shining golden beacon were she could sleep in peace, far from the trouble that the Splicers posed. With delicate movements, her Papa helped his child into the vent as if she were made of glass. Once Jacqueline was safe from the prying hands of the insatiable Splicers, Kappa turned and made his way down the tunnel for his own sanctuary.

Striding down the long hall, Kappa eventually found himself standing before a large, impressive building. Tall pillars of marble holding up the roof in a style similar to the Greek temples of old. The building of course was Rapture's very own university, the place that fuelled the higher education of the entire city. His impressive frame, though not in comparison to the imperious building, attracted the attention of a group of the school-goers who seemed to be quite intimidated once confronted with his appearance.

For a split second, Kappa had the inexplicable urge to leap forward and scary the adolescents, only for it to vanish as promptly as it had made itself known. Why would he do that? They'd done nothing wrong, at least, not as far as he knew.

Turning his attention back to the group, he saw that they had retreated to what they thought a safe distance and were now chatting animatedly amongst each other. "I heard that one killed a young boy for _approaching_ those freaks they follow around." A blonde girl whispered conspiringly to her colleagues. For some reason, Kappa felt stung by that. It didn't take a moron to know that the congregation was speaking of him and his daughter. She was not a freak, she was beautiful! Kappa clenched his fists and made to stride away in haste to the nearest station. What he heard next though, stopped him in his tracks: "They're monsters, every single one of 'em," A zit covered boy said, arrogance seeping from every pore. "It's a wonder that they haven't been taken off the streets and—."

By this time, many of the loathsome people had noticed the Big Daddy standing where they'd left it. The boy had however, been interrupted by the sudden revving of a drill. Kappa was absolutely livid. How, _**DARE**_ this worm, this vile _thing_ speak of his daughter in such a way! He didn't care whether they badmouthed him, much of what they said was true, but there was _nothing_ wrong with Jacqueline! With a roar of fury, the Big Daddy sprang forth and scattered the ironically stupid undergraduates, grabbing the zit-covered redhead and smashing the pitiful slug into the cobbled ground.

The disgusting worm immediately started begging for his life like the coward he was. How easily he could tighten his grip on the slimy pustule's skull, how easily the brain matter would forced out between cracks in his skull, that would surely teach him to never speak in such a way again!

But Kappa relented. However vile the boy was, he had not directly harmed his little girl. Releasing his grip on the vomitus meatsack, the virulent fleshbag fled back in the direction his so-called " _friends_ " had retreated to, leaving him to his fate. Kappa didn't care though. Jacqueline wasn't a monster, she was just a girl. He may not be pretty, but as long as she was not afraid of him, he could not care less of what other people saw him as. For without her... he was nothing.

* * *

 **~0O0~**

Jacqueline was dancing on the fringes of consciousness; that place where you're aware of your surroundings, but still inhabiting the dream world. Where one could imagine getting up and going about your normal day only the wake up... again. Wrestling herself out of the veil, Jacqueline sat herself up in the darkness of the tunnel and rubbed her eyes.

Feeling around in the half light, Lynn finally found her baseball that had rolled away in her sleep. Putting the yellowed leather ball into the pocket of her crisp white apron that was a part of her navy blue dress, she grabbed her needle and pondered on what she would do with Papa today. Looking for angels was a given, but she wanted to do something special! She wanted to do something for him. After all, he looked after her all the time, the least she could do was make him a birthday present.

Suddenly, Jacqueline was roused from her reverie by the dull thumps of someone knocking on the entrance to her hidey-hole.

It was Daddy.

She didn't need visual confirmation, she just felt it in her gut, a familiar smell of musky sea water wafting down the tunnel. Making sure that the ball wouldn't fall out, Lynn clambered up the vent and up to the entrance. " _Daddy_!" She chirped in her usual happy, two-tone voice, allowing herself to be gently taken under her arms by her Daddy's powerful hands. Lifting the eager girl up onto his giant armour-clad shoulders, the her Papa strode down the tunnel, resuming their course they had started before her sleepytime.

Before long, the found themselves standing before a palace. Vast trunks of platinum holding a gold roof reminiscent of the Greek temples of old, behind which, fields of brass lined the walls creating a magnificent sight for the young Lynn who breathed in awe at the magnificence of the palace.

 _'I wonder if any princesses live there...'_ Were her unspoken words.

Her Papa however, seemed to be unmoved by the prettiness of the castle and in fact was speeding up his pace as if to get away from the building as swiftly as he could. Fate it seemed, was conspiring against the Big Daddy though and the silk white ribbon that held Lynn's hair into a ponytail came loose and fluttered to the floor. " _Wait Daddy_ , _stop_!" The Gatherer cried out in urgency, scrambling down from the still moving Kappa and dashing over to the fallen ribbon across the bright sandstone floors.

Her Papa, who'd turned around to face his daughter, was suddenly blasted with a more of freezing energy, stiffening the body of the usually gentle giant. Out from the shadows of one of the less impressive buildings stepped a strange-looking man. He wore a brown suit and trousers, a pink shirt showing underneath his cardigan. However, on top of this, he wore a pair of bright red gloves, a pair of monocles and—strangest of all—had violent red polka dots of varying sizes across his face. The man sneered unpleasantly at her Papa and arrogantly pranced up to the still Daddy. "Not so tuff are ya?" The strange man asked in an equally strange voice, a sort of nasally thing, sneering at her Papa. Jacqueline remembered what she'd been taught at the good girls school: stranger danger. And this man it seemed, couldn't get any stranger.

Turning tail, Jacqueline barely got five feet before she felt herself lifted off the ground by some magical force. Being turned to face the queer-looking man, Lynn flinched against the pungent reek of the man's breath.

"Ooh look," The weird polka-dot-man said in a high pitched feminine voice. "Your _freak's_ in trouble! Why don't you called for Daddy?" He interrogated the small, still floating, girl as he held a shiny gem-encrusted ceremonial blade up to her throat.

All too happy to oblige, Jacqueline complied. " _Help me Daddy_! _Stop the strange man_!"

Snarling with a wicked laugh, the man grabbed her by the cheeks. "I don't think he can hear you..." Pulling her closer to himself, whispering. "You might have to _scream_."

Again, Jacqueline, as steadfast as ever, complied: screaming directly into the polka-dot man's ear. Temporarily deafened in his right ear, the weirdo stumbled around for a second before he lunged at her and slapped her across her face.

Tears stinging her eyes, Lynn called once more. " _Please Papa_ , _the mean man is hurting me_!"

"You-ho-ho're gonna pay for that you side-show freak!" The polka-dot man snarled as he advanced upon Lynn. Interrupting his sadistic reverie however, was a low cracking, like that of ice breaking. With an animalistic roar, her Papa reached out and grabbed the man by his neck and tightened his grip. Scrabbling at his neck for a second, the man eventually fell limp and vanished in a poof of rosy smoke.

" _I knew you'd save me from the monster Daddy_." Jacqueline said, holding up her arms, cuing her Papa to pick her up. Placing the grateful child on his shoulders, the two continued on their wayward journey.

* * *

 **~o0o~**

 **A/N: So, this one isn't as long as the previous chapter, but I'm trying to aim for high quality _and_ steady output. To those of you that may not—or have not—realised, the majority of the story so far is told through the Little-Sister-o-vision that Jacqueline has. If you have any comments of queries, please feel free to PM me, or drop a review, and I'll do what I can.**

 **Favourites and follows are also extremely welcome.**

 **I'll see ya in the next chapter: Buh bye!**

 **TGDB.**


	3. negação

**OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: Woefully, I do not own the gem of a game that Bioshock is… Ah well, win some lose some.**

* * *

 **REVIEW(S):**

akiranakamuranura – Oops, my mistake. Perhaps I was getting a little ahead of myself, eh? And I'm glad you think so (maybe you can figure out who the "Polka-dot-man" was?), I put quite a bit of effort into little Jacqueline; it's nice to have one's toils appreciated. For future reference though, the three characters (Little Sister, Big Sister and OC) are all one and the same. And again, thank you (glad you joined). That's very sweet of you miss.

Savage theron – Again, thank you for the encouragement!

Nietig – Sorry, but whilst Kappa may receive more background info, it's… well. You'll see.

* * *

 **~oOo~**

 **A/N: Morning all (at least, it is for me), I trust you've all kept well? I hope that the wait was worth it and I eagerly await any potential reviews. I'm sorry about the time and I'll spare ya any pointless excuses (aside from I'm lazy) and let you enjoy (hopefully) the chapter. Otherwise, why are you here?**

 **Also, about the poof: I figured that there are no corpses in their Little-Sister-o-vision (henceforth "LSoV"), aside from Angels that is, so any "non-Angels" would render themselves non-existent in the Little Sister's eyes. If you didn't notice, I also switch from the LSoV to normal vision every now and then. Side-note, a friend of mine asked why Suki "talks so funny" whilst her sister (Juline and Suki are** _ **actual**_ **sisters, twins to be precise) doesn't. That's 'cause little Suki has a very bad lisp. Just an explanation for those that don't know.**

* * *

The tranquil serenity of Arcadia's tea gardens was a highly sought after luxury in Rapture. The babbling brooks and rolling knolls, whilst artificial, offered some reprieve and time to decompress from the pressures of the underwater city. That is, for those that could afford it...

Gatherers and their Protector counterparts however, were not bound by the restrictions of monetary bonds and, being agents of the state, were allowed to come and go as they pleased. After all, who would be foolish or brazen enough to deny the Titan and his charge passage? Such is how the two found themselves aside the idyllic mounds of the tea gardens

However, as she was ignorant to both the concept of money and restriction regarding where she could go, Jacqueline played happily in the grass, chasing various flying insects.

Jumping after a large purple butterfly, Lynn giggled as it evaded her clasp once again before reinitiating her attempts to catch it. Kappa on the other hand was not jumping around like his daughter, though it warmed his heart to see Lynn enjoying herself. Instead he stood guard, ever vigilant, on the lookout for any wayward threats that might dare approach his beloved child.

But as of yet, his paranoia was unfounded as there were no splicers, no deranged murderers or even normal civilians for that matter. All was quite in Arcadia. That in itself was unnerving to Kappa. Arcadia was _always_ occupied by at least one or two civilians trying to escape the stress of their lives or taking a prospective mate out.

But before he could speculate any more, Kappa was roused from his reverie by his beloved Jacqueline who held out her hands to him displaying a large purple butterfly, a Purple Emperor to be exact, smiling up at her Papa. The insect gently opened and closed its velveteen wings as if to bask in the awe of Lynn for a moment before it fluttered off on its journey.

Slumping, Jacqueline pouted that her little friend had run off but was distracted from her recent loss by the approach of some familiar faces. Her face lighting up, the small girl ran up to a large knight wearing silver armour and her bigger sister Suki.

Suki, who saw her little sister fast approaching, ran up to her and grabbed Lynn in a tight embrace.

Finally loosening her grip, Suki held Lynn by the shoulders. " _I wanna show ya somethin_ '." She whispered secretively in her warped multi-layer voice.

" _What is it_?" Lynn questioned her big sibling, copying her secretive tone. " _And why're we whispering_?"

"' _Cause I haven' told Papa_." Suki confided quietly as their parents approached the two. " _It's s'posed t' be a surprise_."

Gasping with excitement, Lynn allowed herself to be led off by her sister to behind a small cluster of shrubbery where Suki revealed the surprise: Reaching into her apron pocket, her pulled out a small canvas of her Papa, armour and all, clutching Suki's hand.

The detail put into it was amazing. With oils and watercolours, Jacqueline felt that the image might come to life. " _It's so pretty_!" She exclaimed in wonderment much to Suki's delight and mild embarrassment.

" _D'ya_ really _think so_?" She asked bashfully, hiding half her blushing face behind the artwork.

" _Ouais_!" Lynn assured her sister, still enamoured by the picture. " _I think it's beautiful_. _You should give it to your Daddy_."

"' _Kay_!" She said, back to her usual bubbly self and leapt out from behind the shrubbery and rushed up to her Papa, Jacqueline following closely behind. Holding out the canvas for her Father-in-shining-armour, Suki gave her armoured parent a wide smile.

Reaching out with his free hand, her Protector took the painting with his clumsy hands. Staring at the image through his visor, the man let his arm fall limp before opening his arms to invite his daughter for a hug. Eagerly, Suki, without a second's hesitation, skipped into her Papa's waiting arms and wrapped her arms around him.

Or at least _tried_ to.

Letting her down gently, her Papa strode off to one of the many ponds littered across Arcadia and, wading out to the centre, picked out one of the beautiful Lotuses before wading out and approaching his daughter once more. Kneeling before her, the chrome knight delicately placed the large flower in her hair.

Gasping in delight Suki pounced on her Papa, flower toppling off its precarious perch as she grabbed her Daddy in the biggest hug she could muster.

Daintily picking the fallen blossom from the lush grass, Jacqueline drank in the beautiful colours of the lotus. Looking up at her sister, she couldn't help but feel a little envious. " _Could I have a flower Papa_?" She almost pleaded with her copper Daddy. " _Please_?"

Turning on his heel, Kappa marched into the same pond that subject Eta had retrieved the pretty flower and plucked one, albeit a little smaller and took it to his young charge.

Happily taking the presented flower, Jacqueline gave the flower she'd been holding to her big sister Suki who had finally disentangled herself with her Big Daddy.

Kappa had other ideas though and took the flower from the girl's hand and set it on Lynn's ear. Making a little twirl, Jacqueline's joy was interrupted by the rumbling of her stomach.

" _Papa_ ," She said embarrassedly. " _Let's go look for some Angels_!"

Back in her normal chipper state, Jacqueline grabbed her Big Daddy's wrist and tugged him along in search for some delicious ADAM. " _Bye Jackie_!" Waved Suki as her sibling went about on her wayward path.

" _Bye-bye_!" Lynn called back happily as the pair approached the gilded gates that opened to grant them passage.

* * *

 **— 0 —**

* * *

"There was a rather tragic incident today I'm told. If the local gossip is to be believed, a mother of one of the Gatherers, a Tatyana Nikovaevna Grishin, attempted to "rescue" her daughter. She and her spouse had been send to Persephone by Ryan for the "dispersal of communist propaganda", with their daughter, Svetlana being handed over to us. After a period of around three, maybe four months? The lady, Mrs Grishin, managed to escape from Persephone, God only knows how. The unfortunate woman managed to find her daughter. It would've been better if she hadn't though. Sveta had already been paired with Subject Upsilon and when her biological mother attempted to take the little Miss with her, Sveta's Protector took exception to that…" There was a brief pause for a long, tired sigh.

"I'm honestly sick. I keep hearing of scenes like this. Relatives, family friends, colleagues, seeing what's happened to their children. Even Eleanor was confronted some time ago… I disgust myself."

* * *

 **— 0 —**

* * *

Exiting the tea gardens Kappa and Jacqueline passed through the rest of Arcadia with little fuss, with Lynn stopping every now and then to marvel at the "prettiness" of the environment. As they passed through the halls, Jacqueline was surprise to see a conservatory to her right.

Intrigued, Lynn stepped into the room entirely made of glass, with her Papa right behind her, marvelling at the countless brightly coloured fish and gasped in wonderment as a huge whale passed their field of view.

" _Look Daddy_ ," The Gatherer said excitedly. " _Look at all the pretty fishies_!"

Her Papa nodded in agreement and uttered a comforting whale-like moan of affirmation. Pressing a large button that Jacqueline had previously not seen, the conservatory doors closed and the glass house slowly rose up off the sea floor and gently floated over the beautiful city.

For several minutes, Jacqueline stood with her face pressed up against the glass in stupefaction and Kappa, who for once had little to worry about, relaxed in the bathysphere; it's engine's thrum a reassuring constant.

In the midst of the beauty of nature, Jacqueline heard her tummy growl again and awkwardly held it shamefully.

As much as she loved being in the floating conservatory, she _really_ wanted to get some delicious ADAM to eat. Thankfully, as if the structure heard her unspoken wish, the floating glass box started its slow, gentle descent back to the sea floor. Bouncing on the balls of her feet, Lynn craned her neck to see where she and her Papa would be set down.

Drifting down between the tall spires of Rapture, Jacqueline couldn't make out the signs that indicated as to what their current location was. No matter. Such a minor setback would not stop her from reaching more delicious Angels. The bathysphere, having arrived at its destination, docked with the building suddenly, a muted thud followed by the doors opening indicated the equalisation of pressure.

Before the doors were even half open, Jacqueline had squeezed herself through the entrance and rushed down a red-carpeted hallway having caught the distinct scent of an Angel.

Giving a groan of indignation, Kappa forced the slow doors open and followed his quickly disappearing daughter, his footfalls making loud clangs through the filthy material as he lumbered after the Gatherer, his daughter. Turning the corner, he found the little girl eagerly stooped over the splayed body of a splicer, her harvester needle jabbed into the corpse's chest, siphoning off the precious fluid.

The small alley that the body lay in hid a "Little Sister vent" and a fair amount of the Splicer's blood was sprayed across said vent in an eerily flower-esque fashion. It seemed that one of his brothers had come across the loathsome being and swiftly put an end to its cursed existence. Clearly it had been lying in wait for someone like his precious offspring.

Gently easing out the recently filled utensil, Jacqueline gorged herself on the delicious liquid. Looking up at her Papa, she smiled and held her arms up, indicating that she wanted her Daddy to pick her up. Happy to oblige, the bronze armoured knight lifted her up onto his shoulders and off the scum caked floors. Turning on his heel, Kappa felt his daughter wrap her arms around his neck as he lumbered down the street.

As they made their way down the deserted street, Jacqueline started singing to herself in the warped voice that was synonymous to the Little Sisters. Kappa was roused from his thoughtless walking as he heard a loud clang echo from behind him.

Spinning round, the Alpha series' eyes are met with an empty path. " _What's wrong Papa_?" Jacqueline asked blithely, taken by surprise by the sudden irregular motion.

Letting a whale-like moan, Kappa meant to reassured her that there was nothing wrong, but the weathered Protector wasn't fooling himself. He couldn't shake the feeling that there were people watching him. Specifically, people after _his_ daughter. The mere thought made his skin crawl in disgust.

Giving the pathway another cursory glare, the Big Daddy reluctantly turned his back on it and hastened to make his way in the opposite direction.

Again, Kappa felt phantom footsteps following his and his daughter's passage and could swear that he heard whispers to his sides. Thoroughly spooked now, Kappa quickened his pace in a bid to escape with his charge. It didn't help his nerves that the corridor had seemed to only extend itself as he quickened his pace.

His steady pace was however interrupted by the sudden emergence of a figure stumbling out from behind a pillar in front of them. For a moment the two stared at each other in surprise and mild confusion, though fear was clearly more present on the deformed man's mind as he gave a pitiable whimper and awkwardly ran away from the intimidating figure of Subject Kappa.

As the moment of confusion passed, Kappa was, yet again, taken by surprise as the rattle of small arms gunfire came from behind him. The bullets piercing his back, he heard Lynn scream in pain as some for the lead projectiles had obviously hit the hapless child.

Roaring in fury and pain, Kappa revved his drill and swung round, batting the nearest aggressor away from and into the wall with a sickening splat.

Greeted with a small horde of Splicers, Kappa knew that they had several advantages over him: the first being range, the second being agility. As long as they could keep him at range, they could pump him so full of bullets he would eventually fall... So what? What?! The disgusting slime had hurt his daughter! Should he fall, his daughter would die.

 _'The Vent!'_

He may fall no matter the outcome, but Jacqueline? She could make it out.

Charging forward, the grouped Splicers dived out of the way to avoid the raging brass colossus. They were surprised to see the Big Daddy run past them, completely ignoring them.

"Fuck," One of the Splicers uttered in annoyance. "The fucka's try'n t' ge' away. Gottah get that ADAM boys." Breaking off into a run, the less warped of the bunch set of running after the giant, spraying his firearm in its general direction.

Feeling the hot metal drill through his heavy suit, Kappa ignored the slowly increasing pain of the wounds as he cradled his whimpering daughter in his free arm.

" _I'm scared Daddy_." Jacqueline cried fearfully.

Feeling his rage ever rising, Kappa pushed away his first instinct to turn and annihilate the vermin and focussed on completing his set task. _Then_ he would deal with the interlopers. How could someone even think of hurting an innocent child?

Reaching the end of the long pathway, the Protector finally reached his quarry. Holding Lynn up, he gently pushed the scared girl down into the safety of the Vent. Stubbornly, she peered out. " _Where are you going Daddy_?" She asked, ever the curious soul. " _It isn't sleepy-time yet_."

Moaning, Kappa gently pushed her down the vent again, trying to tell her that it wasn't safe out here yet. Second time lucky, Jacqueline obediently did as she was told this time and didn't rise from her hidey hole.

Hearing the pattering of footsteps come to a halt behind him, again, Kappa turned to face the lawbreakers, revving his arm-mounted drill.

Meanwhile, inside the Vent, Jacqueline was worried. _'Where was Daddy? Why did he put me here? Why can't I stay with you Papa?'_ And other unusually stressful thoughts such as this were occupying the little Delacroix's mind. _'No, he'll come back. Daddy always makes the monsters go away.'_

She was pulled from her internal self-assurance as her Papa's lance made that strange roaring noise and the loud clapping noise those people had been making started up again.

 _'Daddy will win. He always wins.'_ She reaffirmed to herself as the sounds of singing and her Papa's lovely voice echoed down the Vent. Snuggling down, she made to get to sleep. She wasn't tired, but her Papa had put her here to rest, so it would be naughty if she came up tired. And she was not that.

* * *

 **~O0O~**

The sun was setting on the surface of the ocean, but in Rapture, there was no sun to allow for the distinguishing between day and night. Thus, as Jacqueline yawned, rubbing the icky stuff from the corners of her eyes, she did not know of the position of the sun. In fact, to someone such as her, whether it was night or day likely had no bearing on their day.

Stretching in the cozy crawl-space, she listened for a noise from her Papa. Nothing. He probably didn't know she was up, so she crawled along the winding paths of the padded tunnel and, reaching the gilded 'porthole', she peered out to gaze at her surroundings.

A whole bush of bloody red roses had somehow grown overnight on the wall opposite her Vent. In fact, now that she looked, the floors were covered with petals that seemed to be falling from the sky. Looking up, Jacqueline saw that the roses on the far wall had reached the ceiling and, the large flowers laden down by their weight, were slowly shedding petals that rapidly fell to the ground.

In amongst all of this, large and small butterflies flitted around the telltale halo of an Angel, even resting on it once in a while.

This was all irrelevant as she saw, lying in the midst of this all, her Papa was leaned against the majestic gold of the hidey hole. Quickly pulling herself out, she dropped down onto the carpeted floors and shook her Daddy and said:

" _Silly Daddy_ , _wake up_. _It's time to get some delicious ADAM_!"

With no response, she felt the almost ever-present hunger rear it's head again and she looked longingly at the Angel that was just a little ways away. She shouldn't go, but Daddy was right here and he must've been tired after beating up those baddies earlier... Doctor Grissom _did_ say not to leave Daddy. But she wasn't really, it wasn't even six feet away, and she was _really_ hungry...

Eventually, after another growl from her stomach, her hunger won in the internal struggle. " _I_ ' _m just gonna have some ADAM Daddy_ , _I won_ ' _t be going far_." She assured her 'sleeping' parent, more for her own sake.

Padding over to the splayed wings of the Angel, she knelt by the fallen creature and plunged Uncle Grissom's present into the Angel's chest, its body giving an involuntary shudder as the precious red fluid was extracted. Removing the sharp end, she drank deeply from the delicious mixture and wiped her lips after her little feast.

Getting up off her knees, she made her way back to her Protector's side and plonked herself by him, leaning against the wall like him. _'When have I seen Papa actually sleep?'_ The small child asked herself as she sat staring at the drooping, rose-heavy wall. Looking back she couldn't think of a single occasion she'd caught her Papa sleeping. Maybe he hadn't slept at all! That would explain why he hadn't got up when she'd called. Maybe he needed to sleep for a long time to get up? Mentally shrugging, she gave up her current train of thought and leant against her Daddy's armoured side.

Perhaps inevitably though, her normalcy of near constant activity left her incredibly bored at their current state of static. Retrieving her baseball from her front pocket, she started fiddling with the silken string in the shining leather. That too also eventually became boring and she got up and went over to the cross in pathways, peering around the corners.

Nothing.

Giving an irritated sigh, she made to turn back only to hear a distant clanging. Snapping back round to her Papa, she saw that he was still on the ground and fast asleep. As much as she loved her Daddy, he couldn't help her whilst he slept. Rushing to his ironclad form, she desperately shook his slumbering body.

" _Come on Daddy_ , _wake up_!" She cried, putting all her strength into waking his silent form. Looking back, she saw a large amorphous shadow slowly lumbering ever closer and, panicking, she abandoned her Protector and desperately hauled herself up the exquisitely carved gold of the hidey-hole.

Peering out, she peeped over the ridge of the Vent and watched as the large shadow slowly, with clanging steps and quick wet splashes, drew closer and closer until it stopped and a small girl dressed in a bright marigold dress came down the corridor, brandishing a utensil identical to her own. Jacqueline's fears were immediately thrown out of mind.

" _Alice_!" She cried out for joy at seeing her sister. Scrambling out of the Vent, she sprinted to her one-eyed sibling, who was equally happy to see her.

" _Jacqueline_!" Cried she, her right eye glittering brighter than its usual amber glow. " _It_ ' _s so good to see you_!"

Embracing each other, Alice pushed away suddenly and asked, "What's that hard thingy in your pocket?"

Blinking, Lynn took a second to realise what her sister was talking about. " _Oh_!" She exclaimed in understanding. " _It_ ' _s my baseball_. _Do you wanna play catch_?"

Nodding eagerly, Alice hurried over to the ovther end of the alleyway and caught the ball thrown once she had turned to face Jacqueline.

As the two siblings were playing, Subject Zeta was having an internal crisis. His fellow Protector was dead. That on its own wouldn't count for much, granted though, it _was_ a shame. No, the problem was that his daughter, Jacqueline, was still living.

But he was only supposed to look after Alice... What would _they_ say? They wouldn't like it if he left a live Daughter to die alone. And as he stared on at the corpse of Subject Kappa, his fractured mind wrestled with his programming. He wouldn't _keep_ her. No, not for any extended period of time. Only to put her at the place where he'd met Alice.

But he wasn't supposed to do that! _'I am to protect only Alice!'_ , his brainwashing mentally bellowed.

Looking up, the Big Daddy saw that the ceiling had been caked in unnaturally high volumes of blood, likely a side effect of being "drilled to death". Zeta looked to his fallen brother's child and saw that his own child was happily throwing a ball with her sister. Alice would be sad if Kappa's child died. He didn't like it when Alice was sad.

Giving a moan of lament at the prospect, he compromised with his instincts on the grounds "it was for Alice".

Calling to his Daughter, he lumbered over to the two girls and, with surprising agility for one his size, deftly caught the ball in midair. Earning a groan of " _Daddy!"_ , Zeta wailed in his whale-like voice and motioned for both girls to come closer.

Obeying, he held out the leather-covered ball to Jacqueline, which she gratefully took, and hefted Alice onto his vast shoulders. Unceremoniously, he grabbed Jacqueline under his left arm and began to stride away back to the bathysphere.

" _Let go_!" The captured Gatherer screamed, furiously beating her puny arms against his metal clad forearm. " _I need to be with Daddy when he wakes up_! _Please_ , _let go_!"

Alice, clearly unhappy with her sister's distress sided with her sibling and proverbially rushed to Jacqueline's aid, haplessly knocking on his helmet.

 _'Alice, don't be mad. It's for Jacqueline's good.'_ Zeta thought, internally cursing that he could not speak as he approached the bathysphere. _'Daddy knows best...'_

* * *

 **~000~**

 **A/N: Well, after... quite some time, I hope that this chapter doesn't disappoint. I realise that some of you may be lamenting over me killing Kappa way too soon, but you misunderstand. Jacqueline and Kappa's time together _isn't_ the focus of this story.**

 **Aside from any qualms, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I did making it. Reviews really help with a story's progress too by the way. An author without reviews feels that their work is crass (which, granted, mine may be) and is likely more disinclined to continue the story. Just sayin'. That's all.**

 **Hope y'all have a wonderful day: TGDB.**


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